Benji's Fibre-Rich Diet

One day, my son James came home with a letter from Redeemer University.  He was looking forward to reading it, so he put it on the kitchen table.

When James came back, the letter was gone. And no one knew where it was.

A big clue about what happened to James' letter was when our dog Benji decided to go to my desk and eat some of my marking from school.

Benji thought that the math my students were doing looked very tasty, so he ate their math sheets.

My class thought that it was funny that the teacher's dog had eaten their homework.

I was not pleased with Benji, and James was pretty sure he wasn't pleased either.

I asked Benji, "Why did you eat my student's math work?"

Benji answered, "Well Ray, the Bible is on my side. Jesus said you can't live on bread alone, but on every word. And those words were pretty tasty."

"Benji," I explained, "Jesus said more than that. He said you can't live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Benji tilted his head and thought for a bit.  Then he brightened, and said, "l know what to do now. lnstead of eating math sheets, I should eat Bibles."

"No, you silly dog," I told him. "When Jesus said to live on every word that comes from the mouth of God, he didn't mean you eat the words, he meant we need to be hungry for what God teaches us."

But Benji was confused. He asked, "How can I be hungry for God's word if I can't eat it?"

"Well, Benji," I said, "people go to church, and people pray, and people read the Bible instead of eating it. Did you know the apostles even wrote letters in the Bible to teach people?"

"Letters?” said Benji, “I love letters. Especially from Ancaster*," he said, licking his lips.

*Ancaster is where the campus of Redeemer University is located.

© 2026 Ray Scott. All rights reserved.

The author grants permission for you to read this story in church for children's time during the service.  This permission includes live streaming for the service.  For the 3rd person narrative and sample closing prayers, consider purchasing "The Book of Benji" soon.